Industry Leaders to Obama: 7 Ways to Create More Jobsfrom Corporate Meetings and IncentivesWith nearly 400,000 travel industry jobs lost in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the economic downturn, both the U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are urging President Barack Obama to enact legislation that reverses that trend and improves the economy. Both U.S. Travel and AHLA sent letters to the president in advance of last week’s White House Jobs Summit, held Dec. 3.
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Cultural and Heritage Tourism Report Now Available for Purchase

The industry's first segmentation study of the cultural and heritage traveler is available in PDF and hard copy. Commissioned by the US Cultural and Heritage
Tourism Marketing Council, in partnership with the Department of Commerce, and supported by sponsors such as Heritage Travel Inc, California, Florida, Virginia, Chicago, Cleveland, Sarasota, and others
the study demonstrates that cultural and heritage travelers contribute $192 billion to the U.S. economy. Click here to order or contact Laura@MandalaResearch.com for more information.

Two Common Sense Ways to Improve the Economyfrom the Huffington PostIt's estimated that over 500,000 jobs have been lost in two of our most important industries, due to reasons that have nothing to do with our current economy. Entertainment and tourism are two of the most promising areas for job creation in the United States as a whole and in Southern California in particular. They are both vital to the country's economic well-being, not only for the jobs they create, but the spending they generate and the taxes they pay.
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Cutting Back on Travel Hampers Corporate Growthand Performance from Improving Brand Equity BlogAs companies look for ways to combat weakening profits and achieve cost savings, it's tempting to slash business travel as a means for reducing budgets. And while it's true that (as with any cost), there are potential savings that can be realized through more careful allocations of corporate travel, it's risky to cut back too much. In fact, companies that continue to invest in travel reap returns that more than justify the expense. These are findings of a new study conducted by global research firm Oxford Economics: The Return on Investment of U.S. Business Travel. Commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association, it establishes for the first time a clear link between business travel and corporate performance and growth.
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Airlines Appear Headed for Recovery from The Wall Street JournalAfter a difficult year battling the recession, the airline industry appears to be headed toward a recovery as fuller planes, fewer discounted fares, lower fuel prices and revenue from a variety of formerly free services start to pay off. The signs of improvement are most advanced at low-fare carriers that focus on domestic flights.
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Will the World's Largest Cruise Ship Sink or Swim?from TIME MagazineOasis of the Seas is Royal Caribbean Cruises’ newest vessel -- the largest passenger ship ever made, with room for 6,296 guests. Filling a ship that humongous in the middle of an economic storm will take a lot more than ship geeks too. Across the industry, the number of passengers isn't down, but sales and revenues are hurting because of discounts as deep as the blue seas. More

EPA's Carbon Proposal Riles Industries
from The Wall Street JournalIndustry groups vowed to fight an Obama administration proposal to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide, even as some companies prepared to comply with restrictions they regard as inevitable. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday declared emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, to be a danger to human health. That clears the way for the EPA to limit emissions, initially from power plants, refineries, cement plants and other big factories. More

Buying and selling travel technology is time consuming and costly. Sign up for TRAVDEX™ and streamline your buying and selling efforts at one venue. The trade show, May 5 – 7 in Atlanta, offers 36 pre-scheduled appointments, networking and more. Register now at www.travdex.com.

Airport Kiosks Do Nearly Everything but Check Luggagefrom the Los Angeles TimesThe growing army of self-serve kiosk computers at the nation's airports never sleeps, never complains and works fast. And today the machines are being asked to do more than ever. Responding to the growing frustration with airport lines, America's major airlines have added thousands of self-serve kiosks in the last few years so passengers can print boarding passes, confirm flights and change seats on the touch-screen computers.
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China to Open Overseas Tour Sector to Foreign Firmsfrom Uptake - Travel Industry BlogThe great travel trade wall of China is opening up a bit for foreign companies looking at a slice of international Chinese travelers. China has announced plans to gradually open up its overseas tour sector to foreign firms, according to a statement published on the Central Government Web site last week. Currently, only Chinese companies are allowed to offer overseas tourism services to residents. The statement does not include a time frame or details, but the move is reportedly a part of China’s strategy of putting more emphasis on the services sector.
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Marketing to the African American Traveler
Sponsorships available for this one day workshop featuring research and strategies for
addressing the unique needs of the African American market. E-mail us or call 703.798.5452